swim with me? [klance au]

First Sight

Scales shifted in the cold water, anxious to escape to open ocean. Dim sunlight flowed down through the opening in the top of the massive cave, settling on the floor where rows of students sat, hair floating around their heads, gills pulsing slowly as they looked up to the podium in the front of the classroom.

Lance flicked his tail in annoyance. He was bored out of his mind listening to his teacher go on and on about responsibility and obligations. It wasn't the teacher, she was fine and he kind of felt bad for her, but he'd rather be somewhere else. What he'd give to be outside right now, flipping through the currents, which were warm today, racing towards shore where the rocks could hide him as he watched the humans from a distance. It was the beginning of summertime, tourist time, the season of surfers and girls in bikinis. He'd just gotten back from Spring vacation, which he'd spent with Allura and Hunk down near Costa Rica to visit Lance's extended family, but now they were back to California with its hot sun and Americans that liked to flaunt and were easily seduced.

Lounging on the coral seat, arms slumped over his desk, Lance looked up at the teacher at the front of the class, swishing around as she spoke, hands fluttering around her sides as she tried to contain her excitement. "It's your last year of school, students. You're almost ready to go out there, buy your first cove, and start working as a member of our society. You graduate right before we migrate, so we only have a few months left!". This was the end of her spiel, only a few more minutes until Lance could rocket out of the classroom. He was the fastest swimmer in his class, after all. Urging the sun to pass across the hole in the ceiling, Lance slowly started packing up his satchel.

Comb, a few spare earrings, scale tape, notebook in a ziplock bag, chapstick tube, a small conch shell, and his swim trunks, which were rolled up tightly and tied with rope to keep secure... everything was right in place. Lance watched his teacher glance up at the opening of the rock and he grinned to himself as she sighed and clasped her hands in front of her. "Well, I'll see you all on Monday. Have a good weekend!" Lance was the first out of the door, powering his tail through before his teacher could finish what she was saying.

There we go, finally. Lance darted through the complex of caves that made up the school campus, turning left at the kelp patch just outside of his history teacher's cave, then right at the bright pink coral patch before finally escaping the campus. He looked over his shoulder and watched for a few seconds as the other mers escaped out of their classes, tails sparkling and fluorescent markings on their arms and faces lighting up as they found their friends.

The underwater civilization was built so deep down that the brilliant sun was muted to a grimy, filtered glow above, but the waters weren't so deep that they were freezing. Lance pulsed on his fluorescent lights and, with a resigned sigh of bubbles, dove down deeper to the residential area. As much as he'd like to race up to the sun, it would have to wait for a few more minutes as he plummeted down to the neighborhood.

The school was built up much higher than the housing coves because it was completely naturally made, so even if someone did discover the caves, they'd just think it was some weird rock formations. However, the mers had built their own homes that had been passed down for generations upon generations, and the mers' belongings and household items were definitely not naturally made. Lance shivered at the thought of what happened to the few scuba divers that had ventured down this far.

He grimaced at the thought as he passed the guards that protected the coves. Their huge arms with ropes of muscles running down them held giant tridents, pointed tips razor-sharp. Their broad tails stirred the water with powerful strokes, the hackles that lead from the mid-joint of their tails up to the curve of their spines raised, the thin webbing of skin that connected the spines grey and sinewy. Lance nodded to them as he passed through their dark eyes, shuddering at their grey scales.